


hold my spirit (if you can)

by Lunatrella



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Angst, Eventual Smut, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Canon, Rating May Change, Slow Burn, an incorrect use of the justice system, eventual bed sharing, galo does his best to help™, lio has an existential crisis, no beta we die like men, the slowest of burns y'all
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:14:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 17,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25721164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunatrella/pseuds/Lunatrella
Summary: Now caged in the city with civil unrest threatening to ruin the fragile peace he's desperately trying to hold together, Lio faces an approaching battle without the comfort of his Promare. With the looming threat of his trial, Lio has to choose between maintaining his pride as the Mad Burnish leader or trusting others for the first time.Good thing Galo is there to help.OrLio learns to have a life for himself. Galo just wants to be a part of it.
Relationships: Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos
Comments: 9
Kudos: 40





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Well I haven't written anything in years but Promare broke me so heRE YOU GO.

It felt like vertigo.

Lio was unbalanced without the Promare. There were no longer the warm flames inside his body, ready to burst out and _ burn burn burn bring it all to ashes_but now there was only silence. The whispers that played constantly in the back of his mind were gone, leaving him jarred at how completely empty he was.

And his body was _cold_. He wasn’t sure if he properly took out the bulletbecause the biting cold was centered around his heart and he was freezing as it spread through his veins and towards his limbs and _he was trapped in the biting icy prison but he was awake he was aware of the passing of time and oh god his people his people were trapped they’re suffering their Promare are screaming a haunting symphony and it was too mUCH-_

“-io? Lio. Lio!” He came back down to earth with a jolt as he felt a large and warm _too warm is this what it felt like to burn_ pair of hands gently shake his shoulders. Lio blinked and was faced with Galo’s concerned gaze, leaning way to close in his face.

Apparently Galo had no meaning to personal space. Despite the ice lodged in his throat he instinctively reached out and pushed Galo’s face away, ignoring the loud ‘hey!’, and continued trekking through the rubble.

“I can hear you just fine.” Lio mustered out, clenching his trembling hands before Galo could notice.

“Took you awhile though, thought you were just ignoring me!”

“Trust me, I've been trying since I met you.”

“So did the others but they didn’t even last a minute! Remi lasted about thirty seconds before he threw his book at me.”

“Can’t imagine why.” Galo could hear the slight teasing lilt in Lio’s voice, and he brightened at that fact, glad that he was able to get Lio out of his headspace. The Lio from before seemed unaware of the world around him, his gaze looking far beyond the horizon, not taking the view in.

“Just one of my many talents. You’ll be seeing a ton of those in the future! Oh! I can show you the station! You can see my Matoi gear closer ‘cause you know, I bet it was kinda hard to see before-... when we were fighting…” Galo trailed off, looking sheepishly off to the side at the mention of their first meeting. He cleared his throat as they neared the tent that Burning Rescue set up.

Aina looked up as the pair approached the tent, and at hearing Galo’s promise to show his Matoi gear off, she smirked slightly. “At least give the poor dude a chance to escape your powerpoint again. Going through it once was enough.”

Galo gasped dramatically as he placed a hand to his chest in mock offence. “Aina! How could you? To disrespect a man’s Matoi is to disrespect the man himself!”

“You mean the nonexistent respect?” Lucia quipped from on top of the folding table that they somehow procured. Her gaze was glued to the datapad in front of her as her legs swung in the air. Laughter broke through the team as Galo squawked, waving his arms as he attempted to refute back. Lio ignored this as he approached the table, planting his hands near the edge and studying the papers in front of him.

The scientist, Ellis he thinks she was called, disappeared in the aftermath of their battle before returning, shoving rolls of paper to her sister. She then hastily left the group, her fingers flying through the datapad that she held as she returned to deal with the citizens from the ship.

Aina’s sister managed to procure a copy of the Parnassus blueprint. Or more specifically, the area where the Burnish were held. Lio looked over it with a critical eye as he spoke, “So we have to manually open the pods and the locks?”

“It appears so.” Remi replied, pointing towards the locks in question. “Normally it would have been easy to have them electronically opened and unlocked. If the ship was running. But seeing as it’s currently not, thanks to Galo’s innate need to constantly show off, we’ll have to go through each pod and use the manual release.”

“Hey! It wasn’t showing off, that was just me saving the world! The ship is the one that got in the way!”

Before Remi can speak, Lio quietly asked, “how many pods are there?”

Silence descended over the tent. Lio refused to look up to see whatever expression was going through Burning Rescue’s faces until Varys quietly spoke, “around five thousand.”

Lio curled his fist, ignoring the paper crumbling beneath him and slightly tearing. Fury rose through him, letting him momentarily forget the deeply rooted coldness inside of him as he cursed Kray’s name. Five thousand men, women and children. Five thousand people who suffered at the hands of Kray and will bear the scars of what they have gone through forever.

Remorse clawed its way to his mind. While Lio largely blamed Kray and every damn person that took hand at the capture and torture of the Burnish, he felt anger at himself for not being able to protect his people. He failed them.

The beginnings of shame and regret were pooling in him when he was pulled from his thoughts by Galo’s calloused hand resting on Lio’s forearm. Lio glanced at Galo, his demeanor no longer the bright energetic idiot that he always was. Galo’s expression was set in grim determination as he stared unflinchingly at the rage filled Lio

“We’re going to get them out, each one of them. We’ll save them.”

Lio studied the steel blue eyes, Galo’s reassuring words slowly ebbing his rage away. Not entirely gone but merely placed aside. His people were still trapped, hanging in Kray’s torturous invention. There was no place for rage at the moment. Later, when everything is settled.

He uncurled his fist as he nodded towards Galo, looking up to see the same determination burning through the teams faces, bodies tensed and ready to leap at the challenge. But despite their apparent dedication to help, there was doubt threading through his mind.

While he knew that these people were not his enemy anymore, there was hesitance in bringing people he was barely acclimated with to Burnish matters. But Lio squashed that feeling down along with his pride as a leader, there wasn’t any time to question their offer to help. Not with the Burnish still held in their prison cells. Lio wavered slightly as he gazed down again, expression pinched.

“I’ll need to find a suitable place where we can rest, my people are without their powers and surrounded by those who consider them enemies. The least I can do for them right now is to find them refuge.”

“No you don’t.”

Lio’s gaze snapped towards the captain as he stepped inside the tent.

“Rest of the Burning Rescue factions have already set up accommodations for those displaced due to the ship crashing. Emergency services are out to rescue citizens, we have some coming this way to help with any possible injuries. They’ll be placed in emergency shelters.”

Lio scowled, his defense rising as he glared at the dark tinted glasses of the captain. “I will not let the Burnish stay anywhere close to this city, I would prefer to have them as far away as we can actually.”

“That’s not an option, we have five thousand people that need accommodations and there’s space available.”

“A space where they can be easily attacked.”

“That won’t happen.”

“How can we trust you?” Lio let his distrust finally show, ignoring Galo and his team as he argued with their captain, “just not long ago you were arresting us and blindly dragging us to Kray. The others in this city feared and hated us. I won’t allow more suffering to come to the Burnish.”

“Ex-Burnish.”

Lio flinched at that, the ice in his veins rushing back with force. He ignored it and growled out, “we’re still Burnish, no matter what.”

“Burnish without the flames.” The captain retaliated, ignoring the way Lio’s body tensed as he continued, “Now that you don’t have powers, you’re just like the rest of us. While people will still hold their prejudices with y’all, they won’t need to fear you. So there will be no immediate attacks. Right now you’re human like the rest of us.”

“Human?” Lio barked out as he stalked towards the captain, avoiding Galo’s attempt to hold him back with a panicked ‘Lio’ escaping from his lips.

He glared up towards the man, not at all deterred by the height difference as he spit out, “We’ve been human! Our powers never stopped that! We have our own fears and wishes just like anyone else but look at how we’ve been treated. Hunted down like dogs and being viewed as nothing more than a fucking _battery_. If that’s the way you see us, as just only now being human, how will the rest of the city react to Burnish taking refuge here?”

“They’ll accept it!” Aina uttered, shrinking slightly as Lio’s fury was directed towards her. She breathed in and squared her shoulders.

“Not everybody is like Kray. And I know that sounds ignorant,” Aina rushed out as Lio opened his mouth to retort with vengeance, “but Lio, there really are people here that will want to help. They’ll have sympathy for you now that they know what Kray was doing.”

Lio stopped and blinked, confused at the mention of the citizens knowing what Kray did.

“Ellis exposed Kray’s plan.” Aina hugged herself as she looked off to the side, her expression pinched, “She broadcasted several of Kray’s experiments, his studies, the reason why he needed the Promare. Everything. It’s barely been out there but there are already people demanding Kray’s arrest.”

She looked back at Lio, carefully choosing her words, “while it won’t stop some people’s views, it at least lets them see that you guys suffered and need help. People will be accepting.”

“That’s blind hope.” Lio retorted.

“But it’s still hope.” Galo looped his arm over Lio’s shoulders, causing him to stumble lightly before peeking up at Galo, who looked far too encouraging for a matter this heavy. “And that’s what we need right now. Besides, if anybody tries to cause any trouble for you guys they’ll just have to deal with us.” Galo gestured to the group as they all nodded in agreement, before tilting his head slightly, his expression puzzled.

“Also I’m sure that if you tried to do this all by yourself, you’ll like, explode dude. That’s way too much responsibility for just one person.”

_ “But it’s what I can do.” _ Lio thought as his brain tried to scramble for anything he can argue with, but was quickly interrupted as Lucia spoke to Galo, “Like you know anything about having a lot of responsibility. I’m pretty sure that we’ve been carrying your ass since you joined us.”

Lio was jostled as Galo turned and pointed an accusing stare back at Lucia, “You dare say that I, the world’s savior and the greatest firefighter known in this century, knows nothing about responsibility? You insult me.”

“And who decided to award you that title?” Prompted Varys.

Galo grinned as he pointed to his chest with his free hand, “Me of course! There’s no doubt about my talent!”

“I refuse to give you the title of ‘greatest firefighter.’ I’m already struggling wrapping my head on the world savior part.” Remi added.

“Honestly, Galo? I’m pretty sure I’m still in a nightmare at this point.”

“I would say we have no doubt about your ability, but I would be lying.”

“You guys are mean! Is this how you treat your savior after he just finished kicking some robot ass? I was expecting some praises!”

“You hold high expectations for us and that's your own fault.”

“Aw, how cute of you to be expecting a reward. Just like a dog fetching a stick and bringing it back.”

“Hah! Jokes on you! Lucia had me fetch a wrench she threw at the station and she gave me her drink!”

“The life of everybody on this planet rested on the shoulders of an arsonist and an idiot. How the fuck did we survive?”

“Enough.” Ignis eventually ordered, the team immediately straightening up and turning towards the captain, ready to receive their orders. “We have a long way to go before we can relax. We’ll have Lio, Galo and Aina start freeing the ex-Burnish while we set up a base.

“Wait hold on!” Lio spluttered as he ducked under Galo’s arm and tried to retort.

“I’m the leader of Mad Burnish, I’m the one that should be handling this.” Lio was uneasy, his mind screaming at him to not trust non-Burnish with his people’s matters. That was his duty and his alone.

“Buddy, we know you’re the leader.” Galo assured as Lio glanced back at the man, “And that’s why they’ll need to see a familiar face after everything they’ve gone through. You’re needed with them right now.”

The familiar sense of guilt crashed over him as Galo took him by the shoulders and leaned down slightly, stealing all of Lio’s attention, his body betraying him as it relaxed slightly at the feel of Galo’s warm grasp.

“I know it’s hard to trust others after everything you’ve been through. But can you trust me when I tell you that my team will protect and help your people?”

As he gazed into the determined blue eyed gaze he felt conflict rise within him. There was fear, rage, guilt, and the ever creeping cold swirling within him. The duty as the Mad Burnish leader was fighting with Lio Fotia, the powerless and tired human, the decision teetering on his mind before he sighed, his shoulders drooping slightly before nodding.

“...alright, I trust you Galo.” 

At that Galo lit up. Despite the crushing anxiety that weighed heavily on him, Galo’s beaming smile abated the wariness inside him a bit.

***

While the encompassing cold loneliness inside of him continued to grow in the space where the Promare used to reside, the pain of it was _nothing_ compared to what he felt when he entered the ruined engine room.

The sound alone resonated through his body and shook him to his core as the anguished cries of the Burnished rose in decibels the closer they approached the engine. There was screams, sobbing, curses, shouts of names from family and friends seeking others, clashing with one another. Lio’s soul _shattered_ as he heard the cries of the children, seeking comfort while hanging by their wrist in their cells.

He can see the others were very much affected as well, Galo’s face quickly draining of color as he heard the screams. Aina was in tears as she rushed to the first pod, gentle reassurances tumbling from her mouth as shaking hands were prying the manual locks.

Lio hunched in on himself, guilt and shame rising in his throat like bile as he croaked a shattered, _“I’m sorry,”_ that was drowned out by the sounds. Thoughts raced through his mind, each of them blaming him for the pain that they’re going through, how he wasn’t strong enough to fight for them, how selfish he was to rampage through the streets and leave the Burnish hanging with no chance at rescue as their fires fueled the machine, tearing through their bodies as they could only think that the release of death was their only saviour and oh god how many piles of ashes would they find and it was all _his fault-_

“Lio!” Galo shook Lio roughly, turning the man towards him and blocking the view of the engine room, leaving him with only Galo’s pinched face filling his vision. He grounded himself at the feel of Galo’s hands clenching around his shoulders, his breathing coming out in short gasp as his burning eyes met the other.

“Lio I’m really _really_ sorry... but they have to be released and we need you for that. Come back to us, to your people, they need you.” Galo’s words slowly filtered through his mind as he dug his nails into the meat of his palms to bring him back to reality. The Burnish don’t need the broken Lio Fotia that succumbs to his guilt, they needed the Mad Burnish leader filled with fury at the hands that caused pain to his people. They needed someone to help them through their pain and confusion and they can’t see him weak.

At that thought Lio seemed to feel everything… shut off.

Galo watched in helpless fascination as Lio’s grief stricken face and hunched posture slowly ebbed away before righting himself up, the emerging cold gaze and stature of the Mad Burnish leader he faced in battle surfacing.

“Guide all injured Burnish outside the base.” Lio ordered, the bright pastel eyes now dulled.

Galo has faced life threatening situations before, has faced death of people he couldn't save whose faces are forever etched into his mind, and he knew that during those times he couldn't let his emotions get the better of him. So while he knew that there wasn’t time to waste at the horror in front of them, there was the slightest hint of regret for not being able to help Lio.

“Have the Burnish know that we need all abled bodies to help with the rescue efforts. If you or anyone else comes across ashes, close the pod, they will be gathered later.”

There was a time for mourning. It will come and Lio will ensure that he gets the names of all Burnish who have passed. They’ll be properly sent off and only then Lio will allow himself to crumble. But only after.

Right now he was nothing else but the Mad Burnish Leader.

But still, he hesitated for a second before finally relenting, “When you see Guiera and Meis send them my way.”

Galo noted that Lio said when, not if, and hoped with everything inside of him that Lio’s friends survived. Lio would need the comforting presence of people who know him. Galo nodded, allowing himself a moment to gaze at the Lio’s retreating form, concern once again rising inside him before shaking his head and running to the locked pods.

There were people who needed rescue.

**

Lio’s thoughts went like this. _Unlock pod. Reassure the captured Burnished. Release each individual lock that strung them up. Help them out of the pod. Have them be carried away to get treated or have them join in the rescue. Repeat._ The routine would only be broken when he comes across an empty pod occupied only by a pile of ashes. At those moments he would allow himself a moment, controlling his breath, before sending a silent prayer to the dead Burnish before closing the pod. Then he would continue.

His muscles would scream with strain as he forced the lever locking the pod to turn. His feet ached and blistered as he walked through the rows and layers of the engine room. His body howled with hunger and exhaustion, threatening to send him crumbling down.

But he continued.

(Once, when he was traveling through the desert, he sought refuge in a crumbling building, an old memory from before the First Great Blaze. While he was scavenging for anything useful, he found a hardcover book, nestled in the decaying remains of a drawer. While it looked as though it survived the harsh elements, Lio was still careful in opening the book, the yellowed pages crinkling beneath his fingers. His eyes skimmed through the faded text, not particularly interested until one of the stories caught his eye. The story of a punished god, forced to kneel on the scorching ground as he held the celestial planes upon his back, forever spent to hold the planes lest he be crushed. Lio didn’t understand why people from before the First Great Blaze would read this type of material. They had not yet experienced the pain that was to come.)

But as he pulled the levers and forced the heavy metal doors of the pod to open, he now understands why people would read such a depressing tale. Anybody could read it and compare their problems to the weight the god carried.

Suffering was the same no matter who viewed it. 

He was broken out of his trance by two bodies colliding into him. He tensed, ready to strike with a raised hand to call forth his fire, freezing as he no longer felt the familiar heat rise through him.

He forgot that he no longer had the Promare.

He felt himself crack a bit, before he realized the bodies holding him were loudly sobbing cries of ‘Boss!’ and his mask crumbled.

“Guiera? Meis?” He breathed out in shock as both pairs finally untangled themselves from his body to look at him. Lio felt his breath knock out of him as he gazed at the smiling, teary eyed looks of his most trusted and _very much alive_ generals.

“Of course we’re alive boss!” Guiera spoke, Lio faintly realizing that he said that part out loud. Guiera gave him a fierce grin that Lio tried to copy, failing miserably with worry still weighing heavily in his thoughts, “takes more than this to stop us, amiright Meis?” Meis laughed, the sound very much out of place in the engine room but Lio cherished the sound.

“Like a walk in the fucking park.” Meis interjected as Gueira threw an arm over the man's shoulders.

But Lio paused, his joy at seeing the people he trusted the most fading as he peered intensely at his friends. Despite their assurance, Lio can easily see through their lies. Guiera was leaning most of his weight on Meis, who himself seemed to be unaware of his trembling hands.

“You’re injured.” Lio reached out, confused as to why they didn’t seem to be healing, before recoiling his hand back.

Without the Promare to heal them anymore, they were left to experience all the aftermath of Kray’s torture. There was nothing Lio could do that could abate his friend's pain. From the expression on his generals faces he can guess that they can read his sorrow before he quickly tried to school his expression.

“Boss-” Guiera started but Lio quickly cut him off.

“Drop it. Don’t try to fool me with this, you both went through torture. You don’t need to reassure me like a child.” Guiera flinched at his words as Meis met his stare.

“We weren’t boss, we just don’t want you to worry about us, you already have enough on your plate.”

“That isn’t your decision to make.”

“But it’s one we want to do. Boss you look like you’ve already been through enough.”

“I’m fine, I don’t need to be coddled like this!” Lio spat as he turned back to the lever he was trying to move, his insistent tugging doing nothing to budge it. “We have about five thousand Burnish that need housing, food and medicine at the _least_. The best I can do for them is to have them heal and rest. And that includes the both of you.”

“Boss we’ve been through worse before, you know we can handle ourselves. You don’t need to pretend to be fine for the both of us.”

Lio refused to look at them as he still struggled with the lever. “Meis, I cannot allow myself to be comforted or reassured. The other Burnish need that more than I do.”

“Boss you’ve been through hell also. You’re allowed to take a moment to just breath.”

“And let us stand defenseless without our Promare?”

He was met by silence so he continued, “you both can feel it also, can’t you? They’re gone. We have nothing to protect our people with except the vague promises of Burning Rescue. That’s not enough to stop the people here. Vulcan and Freeze Force have escaped and they can very easily cause serious harm to us. Right now all that the Burnish know is that they don’t have any means to fight while they’re surrounded by the very same people who imprisoned them. I have to ensure that we’ll be ready for anything that comes for us.”

“Boss that isn’t something you can do by yourself.”

“That won’t stop me, the Burnish need to be protected now more than ever.”

Lio was forced to turn around by a set of hands and was met with Gueira’s unwavering stare. “Lio that includes you. We saw you get shot by Vulcan, he was basically guaranteeing your death and while I honestly don’t know how you survived that, you must have been seriously hurt. Also you apparently fought Kray and saved the whole goddamn world from what I hear! That’s too much for one person to go through. You need to let yourself rest and let us help sort through this.”

At the mention of the bullet Lio felt a phantom ache course through him as he remembered the ice _surrounding him he couldn't breath but he didn’t need too because he was dead he had to be since he can hear the cries of his people coursing through him and he would never let that happen as long as he was alive so he must be dead that’s why he’s here this is his purgatory and he would spend eternity listening to their screams-_

Lio flinched as he pushed Gueira away, regretting it slightly as he watched the man sway and nearly fall before being caught by Meis. Lio quickly hardened his gaze as he met their stares.

“I can’t have you dealing with any of this with both of you barely holding it together.” His words were like acid, falling out his mouth as he used his rage to distract him from the piecing cold that coursed through his veins.

“Lio take a fucking look at yourself!” Guiera shouted as he struggled to hold his balance, Lio’s reply was silenced by the fury that Gueira directed towards him.

“Fuck boss if you can see yourself you would get why we’re concerned! You look as though you’re ready to drop dead. Boss please,” the fury in Gueira's words left him, only leaving the slightest bit of anguish in his words, “take a break, you don’t look good.”

Lio _snapped_.

“I said I feel FUCKING FINE.” At that he finally managed to turn the lever, letting the pod swing open with a flourish. He was breathing heavily as the shaking in his hands returned.

Then he let his gaze fall to the floor, where the smallest pile of ashes he’s seen yet was piled.

“Fuck.” Guiera hissed through his teeth as they all stared at the ash. Meis covered his mouth and turned away from the sight. Both must have not seen the extent of the harm that the machine caused and Lio felt himself break again, he couldn’t even protect them from the sight of their fallen people. At their haunted stares Lio felt the beginnings of his mask settle back into place, the rushing waves of the emotions inside him stilling as he sent a silent prayer and closed the pod.

“Lio-” Guiera started, his hand reaching out, but stilled at the cold expressionless gaze staring back at them. The pastel colored eyes that were filled with exhaustion and grief just a moment ago were gone, their eyes meeting a blank stare .

Gueira cursed internally as he saw the extent of the pain that Lio was going through. Lio was on the cusp of falling apart, so he had sealed all his broken parts. The only thing remaining was the Mad Burnish leader, who carried none of these emotions and carried on despite how god awful tired Lio looked

“Both of you are to report to the medical tents, get looked over and rest.” Lio spoke calmly as he turned and walked to the next pod, reaching for the lever as he continued, “I’ll handle everything until both of you are ready to help me with the Burnish.”

There was an eerie atmosphere surrounding him. Lio looked calm and collected despite being surrounded by so much torture and anguish, that it appeared as though it didn’t affect him. At least from what they can see.

Guiera can only watch as Lio open the pod, quietly assuring the crying Burnish as he starts to work on the locks holding them up. Meis stepped forward, words of sympathy almost falling from his tongue before the cold gaze snapped back at them.

“That is an order, generals.”

Meis faltered at the dispassionate tone directed towards them, before being pulled by Guiera, back towards the exit where the injured Burnish were being guided to the medical tents. He shook his head silently at Meis, regretful acceptance bearing down on him. Meis hesitated, before nodding along and started guiding Gueira to the tents.

Lio was still the leader of the Burnish and their jobs as his generals hanged over them, because Promare or not, Lio was still filled with scorching flames that deterred any opposition.

They know when they’ve lost a battle.

***

Galo huffed gently as he finished setting down the last Burnish of the row. The young Burnish, a girl no older than maybe 15, quietly denied his request to take her to the medical tents. Instead he watched as she took shaky, uncertain steps towards the stairs that will lead her to the exit, and once she was out of view he finally allowed his body to sag as he leaned against the wall.

He’s been worked to the bone before. He remembers the months leading up to him joining Burning Rescue. Those days he went to bed with aching muscles and a racing mind desperately trying to remember everything about working his gear. But even then, Galo felt a sense of accomplishment with that exhaustion, a constant reminder that he was getting closer to his goal.

This exhaustion was entirely different and much more draining. His horror slowly amounted with each pod he opens and each tortured and scared face he’s seen. Made worse when there was no face to see except piles of ashes settled across the floor.

“Galo!” He jumped at the sound and watched Aina approach, her eyes filled with exhaustion, but a smile still forming in her face as she caught up to him.

“The last of the north section has been freed. Remi and the other volunteers are finishing up the south.” Galo let out a sigh of relief.

The Burnish have all been freed and are getting the care they sorely needed.

“That’s great news Aina, exactly what I needed to hear.” Aina frowned, her face concerned as she laid a hand on Galo’s shoulder.

“Galo, you’ve been working this entire time. Everybody has taken breaks except for you and Lio. Both of you need some rest.” With that his fatigue seemed to finally catch up to him, groaning loudly as the beginnings of a headache began to form between his brows.

“I need a nap.” Galo sighed, massaging his temples.

“No you need sleep. And food… Also a shower wouldn’t hurt.”

Galo was too exhausted to argue back. He only nodded as he pushed himself from the wall and slowly made his way to the upper levels with Aina, “maybe you’re right. But I want to check in with the captain first.”

Aina narrowed her eyes at him and before she could argue he looked around and asked, “Where’s Lio?”

Her eyes squinted at him, conflicted with her need to take care of Galo before sighing, “He’s working on the last part of the east section. Let’s see if he’s done.”

Both pairs headed towards the upper row of the east section, Galo swallowed back his disgust as he gazed on the many empty pods that surrounded him. The cacophony of noise from before was now replaced with an encompassing silence. There was nobody left except the three of them and piles of ashes.

Galo winced at the morbid thought, quickly pushing it to the side once he caught the sight of pale blonde hair down the hall.

“Lio!” Galo yelled, quickly wincing as it echoed through the chamber, sheepishly looking at the unamused Aina. He called out again, his voice only a slightly bit lower than before.

At the second call of his voice Lio tensed, before vaguely recognizing the voice through the haze in his mind turned towards the pair approaching him. He noted the lowered shoulders and the dark circles under their eyes. Galo looked particularly worst from the two of them. Lio closed the last pod, a silent prayer stumbling from his lips directed towards the ashes piled inside, before turning towards them.

“The east section is cleared out, all Burnish are outside either resting or receiving aid. We should report back and see what our next move is.” Aina's face turned to confusion at the clipped tones that Lio seemed to speak, his voice indicating no sign of exhaustion despite how wrecked he looked. Galo frowned as he stepped closer to Lio, concern rising in him before being interrupted.

“Your next move is to get some goddamn rest.” Captain Ignis' voice called out as he approached the trio. Lio blinked at the statement before shaking his head.

“The Burnish are confused and scared outside. Many of them are lost without their Promare and all of them are tired, I should-”

“You should shut your mouth and sleep. Both you and Galo. Both of you are to go rest and not report back for another twelve hours.” Ignis stood with authority, his arms crossed as he almost seemed to dare for Lio to speak back. Some color returned to Lio’s eyes as he slightly tilted his head at the Captain, the blank expression of his face sending chills down Galo’s spine.

“Do you think that I am one of your dogs that you can command?” Lio’s face expressed nothing but his tone was full of contempt. “I do not take orders. I give them. If you think you can stop me then by all means, I want you to try.”

Galo sensed the rising tension between the two and before anything could occur his body moved before he could stop it. He grabbed Lio by the waist and threw him over his shoulders, silently apologizing and planning his will as Lio froze at the sudden movement, too shocked to react.

“Righto captain! I’ll be sure to get him a nice place to sleep and you won’t see a peep of us for eight hours.”

“I said twelve.”

“Do you think that you can stop the both of us?”

“... Ten hours and that's final. Now get him out of here.”

“Gotcha! Bye Aina be sure to bury me with my Matoi!” Galo called quickly to the stoic captain and confused Aina as he turned and began to walk up the stairs and out of the ship, with Lio still gazing out in a daze, confused by how he was suddenly upside down.

That changed when they stepped outside and felt the first breeze sweep across his face. He blinked as he watched Galo walk away from the crashed ship and towards the empty streets. After a moment of, yes this was really happening he was being manhandled away from the wreckage and was currently staring at Galo’s sculpted back, he crashed back into his body.

“Galo Thymos you are fucking dead.”

“I know! I know! And while I want a painless death, which I probably won’t get, just hear me out!”

“I don’t have to listen to shit! Now let me down before I claw your back.”

“Lio just liste- _ow ow fuck stop_ - you can’t carry on like this. It’s not healthy, you need to rest!”

“I’ll rest when I’m fucking dead, the Burnish-”

“Yeah yeah we know, they need you and you need to fulfill this weird martyr complex of yours- _stop scratching me shit_!- You can’t do anything right now!” Galo finally snapped out. Lio, surprised by the outburst, stopped his rampage on Galo’s back.

“Lio, you’re in no condition to keep working. You need to rest.”

Lio’s mask was unraveling and he desperately tried to cling to it as he spat out, “You don’t fucking understand they need me!”

“Of course they need you!” Galo said, stopping in his tracks at an empty street surrounded by dark buildings, the power likely knocked out as the only thing lighting them was the bright glare of the emergency lights.

He sighed as he rubbed his forehead, really wishing for that nap, but knew that he needed to get Lio to try to understand, “Look we’re not saying that they don’t need you, they obviously still need the very much frightening leader of Mad Burnish. But even you can’t be that if you keel over and die from exhaustion.”

Silence descended over them, Lio no longer struggling against his back. Galo took that as his cue and continued to walk, heading towards his apartment.

“What's the use of a leader if he can’t even stand on his own? I told you to trust in me, and I trust my team to take care of the Burnish until you're ready to be back to your feet. They’ll be safe. And honestly Lio? The way you shut down like that kinda freaked me out so please don’t do that again.” Galo desperately wished he was able to see how Lio looked right now, not being able to with the man over his shoulders and wow, Lio is super light they need to get more food into him. Which is going to be difficult to do since most likely the food in his fridge probably expired since he spent a week in jail. Maybe he can beg his neighbors for some breakfast. Wait focus Galo, Lio was still very much silent behind him.

Galo hesitated a bit before his resolve came back, “so uh yeah. Let your emotions out dude. If you need to like cry or scream, hell even continue clawing my back, do it. Because honestly you deserve that much at least.”

“... I’m surprised you even know what martyr means.” Galo sputtered as he tried to look over his shoulder, silently relieved that Lio seemed to process his words and was able to reply.

“Here I am, telling you to continue your rage fit and you question my vocab. Dude, not cool.”

“I think I’m rightly justified to make fun of you due to my position right now.”

“I can set you down if you really want too.”

“No, you're committed to this. Keep walking.”

“Right-o captain!” Galo heard Lio snort and he brightened at that. They walked for a while in silence before Lio spoke, his voice carrying up more exhaustion than before.

“I can’t break down. Not yet.” There was the barest hint of insecurity peeking through that statement, but Galo let it slide, sensing that this was an argument that can’t be won yet, not with their exhausted states.

“I don’t think that's how emotions work dude. It’s not something you can just postpone.”

“I can and you watch me.”

“Lio _no_. What I’m saying is, when the time comes and you feel like you're going to burst, you're allowed too. It’s not a bad thing.”

“...”

“Lio?”

Galo then felt the slightest murmur come from the man in question as Lio drooped down even more, his body finally giving in to its needs.

“Okay I lost him. Let's get some sleep.”

***

Despite his struggle to fetch the spare key from under his welcome mat as he balanced the unconscious Burnish on his shoulder, he successfully managed to fling open the door leading into his apartment.

He shut the door behind him, flicking the light switch on, frowning as he realized there was still no power. He groaned as he blindly walked through the entrance hall, towards the open area of his combined kitchen and living room. His hand traced the wall of his kitchen as he tried to feel for the cabinets he usually kept his flashlight in and there! He pulled open the drawer and fumbled through its contents, eventually grasping the heavy flashlight and flicking it on.

He blinded himself momentarily with the harsh glare of the light before blinking away the bright spots, pointing his flashlight towards his living room and sighing in relief. If he tried to get Lio to his couch in the dark there was a very high chance they would have ended up sprawled on the ground. Galo walked over to the couch before depositing the sleeping man as gently as he could without waking him. Which he didn’t even need to worry about since Lio continued to sleep like the dead. Galo studied the man’s face, noting that even in deep sleep there was still a troubled look to Lio. The shadows from the flashlight darkened his under eye bags and seemed to enhance the paleness of his skin.

Galo scratched his head, confused on how he was going to get the man to relax before noting the shivers that racked through Lio’s body. Now that Lio was no longer in contact with Galo’s warmth, his figure was left seeking heat as he curled in on himself. Galo quickly grabbed the quilt that hung over the arm of the couch and draped it over Lio, after taking a moment to take off Lio's boots which was its own battle as he struggled with the many buckles and _seriously Lio aesthetic over comfort was not worth it._

He leaned back and looked down at the man before sighing with exhaustion and turning to head to his room.

Shower and food can wait, right now he was getting that nap he sorely needed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me: alright this chapter should be simple enough  
> me, ten thousand words later: *looks into the camera like im in the office*

There was the taste of death in his mouth as he woke up. 

He glared at the popcorn ceiling, confused on where he was and why everything ached. He smacked his lips to rid himself of the taste as he sat up, the quilt covering him slipping off and pooling on the floor. 

As he took in his surroundings, noting the TV and game system on a wooden stand separated from him by a glass coffee table, he heard a noise coming from his left and turned his head.

Attached to the living room was a kitchen, separated by a bar counter. Standing at the stove, humming to himself was Galo, still in yesterday's clothing as seen by the dusty uniform pants and torn medical sleeve. Galo’s attention shifted as he saw movement coming from the couch, and he smiled at the awake Lio staring at him from his spot.

“Morning Lio! I hope you’re hungry ‘cause I made a heapful of food!”

Lio would say he was neither a morning or night person, his sleeping schedule always iffy depending on the situation and where he was, so he was almost always geared up to go after waking from his usual four hours of sleep. But since he passed out and slept more than double his usual schedule, he was very much out of it as Galo spoke to him, taking in nothing that he just said. He continued to stare at the man, his body begging to return to the warmth that the couch offered. Just when he decided to continue sleeping, he inhaled a divine scent coming from the kitchen. He snapped his eyes towards the source, a bright blue mug in Galo’s hands, and at the sight his mind snapped out of the fog it was in.

“Lio?” Galo questioned, his head tilting slightly at the unresponsive man currently staring him down. His grip on the steaming mug of coffee tightens slightly. 

Whenever Lio was in a group any food that they didn’t need to hunt or scavenge for usually ended up being dented canned goods, nearly empty containers of dried beans, and if they were lucky, expired processed foods that still have a semblance of flavour. Everything found was carefully rationed and given to the most vulnerable in their group. Lio would ensure that everybody would be able to sleep at night with food in their systems while he ignored his own gnawing stomach, too used to the hunger at this point in his life.

But sometimes, very rarely, someone would come back with a very much real can of instant coffee. Only during those times Lio would indulge himself, carefully savoring his rationed coffee, never knowing when he would have the bitter drink again.

Moments like those were always so few and far between that his cravings for coffee was bearable.

That was not the case as his sights focused on Galo’s mug. He leapt from the couch, rounded the bar counter that separated the kitchen and living room and approached Galo.

Said man was shaken by the sudden change from the very sleepy and unaware Lio to the one that was stalking towards him with a look of murder.

“Lio?” Galo questioned as he stopped in front of him, his back hitting the stove as he was effectively cornered. The shorter man glared up at Galo before turning his sights to the mug. Lio then reached, grabbed the steaming mug from Galo’s grasp, and chugged the contents in three loud gulps.

Galo blinked in surprise at the action as he watched Lio finish the drink with a very satisfied sigh, placed the mug back in his hand, turned and sat on one of the stools at the bar. He then reached towards the very much filled coffee pot on the counter as he grabbed a mug on the drying rack, served himself to the brim, and finally looked towards Galo.

“Sorry.” Lio said as he took a sip from his own mug, not at all looking remorseful.

Galo, still very much startled, took a moment to string together an, “It’s alright?” as he placed his now empty mug on the counter. He noted that Lio looks much more awake than he did before, so he turned back to the stove and continued cooking, ignoring the event that just happened with slight amusement.

Lio took a sip and jumped in surprise as the liquid burnt his tongue, the sensation entirely foreign to him. The hot drink just served to remind him how freezing he felt. The flames that flickered in him were a comforting presence he took for granted. He placed a hand on his chest and felt the emptiness inside him. He shuddered at the feeling, quickly tightening his fist as he looked at the only distraction he could find.

“Did you even shower last night?” The words tumbled out of his mouth and he mentally facepalmed.

“You don’t exactly smell like roses either dude.” Galo called out with a cheeky grin, “I think we both decided sleep was more important than hygiene at the moment.”

“I beg to differ.”

“I don’t think that's the attitude someone deserving of breakfast should have.”

“You do realize that I will definitely fight you for those waffles.”

“I know, but would you risk leaving your coffee unattended?”

A pause, then a sip, before continuing, “...When did you wake up?” 

Galo smirked, turning back to the stove, plating the food, “I woke up pretty early this morning! I was gonna make something different but, oops, most of the stuff in my fridge expired since I’ve been gone. Everything else spoiled, since the power was out until a while ago, and I was freaking out since I had no food but then I remembered Ms. Kara, my neighbor across the hall, lets me borrow a couple ingredients when I don’t have any. So I went ahead and knocked on the door and after she yelled at me a bit for waking her up super early since, oops turns out it was earlier than I imagined, she gave me a few things so I can whip something up! Which was super nice of her since all she asked in return was a week of picking up her groceries and to not bother her!” Galo finished brightly as he placed Lio’s plate in front of him before finally serving himself. He started to inhale his food as he leaned back on the kitchen counter while Lio still processed Galo’s ramble, unsure how to reply to it. 

He picked up his fork and eventually latched onto one part of Galo’s ramble, “You’ve been gone from your place for a while?” 

At that Lio noticed something odd. There was the slightest shift in Galo, his shoulders hunched up a bit as a quick flash of hurt passed through his face, occurring so fast that Lio must have imagined it. Galo quickly laughed a bit too loudly and turned around to throw bread in the toaster.

“Uh yeah I was just… really busy. Wasn’t here for a week.” Lio was curious by the vague answer, and just as he was about to question Galo even more the man quickly turned and smiled brightly towards him.

“Want me to make another pot? I don’t mind being raided for my supply of coffee, we’re definitely going to need it for the rest of the day!” 

Lio was intrigued, his eyes narrowing slightly as he noticed the slight crease between Galo’s brows and how his smile looked slightly forced. Why was Galo uneasy? 

Eventually, after taking a moment to stare curiously at Galo, Lio let the subject drop as he nodded towards the pot, “If you don’t mind.” He definitely noticed the look of relief passing through Galo’s expression as the man quickly rushed forward and started to prep another pot. 

He bit his tongue to stop himself from pressing the matter, it wasn’t his place to question Galo on something he definitely wanted to avoid talking about.

They continued to eat in silence as the drips of coffee started to collect in the pot. Lio, at last, managed to collect his thoughts and coughed slightly, gaining Galo’s attention. He straightened up slightly as his hands wrapped around the warm mug, his icy fingers greedily soaking in the warmth.

“I want to thank you Galo, for letting me reside in your home last night.” 

Galo smiled brightly towards Lio, his shoulders shrugging as he replied, “It was really nothing. I didn’t even mind carrying you since you’re, like, super light!”

Lio grimaced slightly at the mention of that, before continuing, “Well, other than that, it was still very kind of you for letting me in your house, I won’t be a bother anymore since I’ll be finding other accommodations for tonight.”

Galo frowned at that, “dude, I don’t mind you crashing on my couch, I feel like this is the least I can do.”

“I can’t in good conscience take up any more of your space Galo.”

“Again, you barely weigh anything, you’re not really taking up the entire place.” Galo said cheekily.

Lio felt the tips of his ears warm up. “You know what I mean Galo!”

“Seriously, like I could probably fit you in my shoe closet and you’ll have plenty of space.”

“I’m beginning to take offence to this Galo.”

“I’m just saying, you’re not a bother to me if you crashed here.”

“Well I would be bothered at the thought of intruding more of your space than I need too.”

“Where would you go? If you’re staying here that means a free space for another Burnish! It’s a great deal.”

“Why are you very insistent on this? We’ve known each other for barely more than a day!”

Galo pursed his lips before pointing his fork at Lio’s direction “Well I know that we’re Galo de Lion! We work well together! Besides, even if we barely know each other that’s an easy fix! We’ll just learn more about each other if you stayed here, we’re friends dude, this is what friends do for one another.” 

Lio recoiled a bit, surprised by how  _ sincere  _ Galo looked. How can Galo easily look at him and call him a friend despite the majority of the time knowing one another was spent fighting? The idea of opening up to Galo, or to anyone for that matter, left an uneasy feeling brewing in his gut. Lio didn’t have friends, he had acquaintances and allies. Even with those relationships he was too cautious, knowing that at any moment he would part ways with others. Staying distant was the safest option.

~~_ the traitorous part of his mind cackled at the irony, he was so cold and apathetic to keep others away but now that’s all he can feel inside him now with the warmth of his Promare gone _ ~~

Galo was too trusting, he wore his heart so openly on his sleeves that he never once thought of the danger that it can lead him too. He was bewildered, how does someone this friendly exist? Is Galo that idiotic as he appears?

But.. -still- there was a part of him that slightly warmed a bit. He never had anything more than acquaintances, spending his entire life running, never allowing himself to make attachments. Sure he would trick himself into thinking the heavy weight in his heart was just the stress from constantly being on the move and not by the lack of companionship he had. On those nights he would distract himself by flaring up his Promare, allowing the flames to surround him in warmth as he listened to the whispers of his fires to fill the silence. 

When even those whispers were drowned out by the aching silence he would look for company. He would fall into bed with the first willing partner and satisfy the urge inside of him to feel the briefest moment of connection, believing that the rolling hips and panted breaths of the Burnish he didn’t know the name of would be enough. 

_~~ It never was enough ~~ _

There was never a time to establish a connection with anyone, not until he was the leader of Mad Burnish and he managed to acquire a close set of generals he actually trusted... The same generals that he acted unfairly cold towards yesterday. 

Lio grimaced at that thought, regretting the action slightly as Galo noticed the look and interpreted it differently. The man chuckled awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“I mean, I consider you a friend but it’s cool if you don’t! You’re right about barely knowing each other. I guess the idea of staying at a stranger's place would be kinda weird-”

Startled at the flustered man he quickly waved his hands towards Galo, “no that wasn’t -I was just-  _ ugh _ !” Lio groaned as he covered his face with his hands, entirely frustrated with how his brain refused to cooperate with him. He exhaled loudly before straightening back up, facing Galo.

He studied the man’s features, bright blue eyes and chiseled face looking at him in confusion as he took careful consideration of his words. Some parts of him screaming to take the opportunity to leave, to find another place from the too trusting man. 

But then there were the quiet whispers coming from the aching piece of his heart, the one he constantly ignored, the piece that desired the slightest semblance of companionship. 

Lio was so tired of the silence.

“..I never stayed in one place for long,” Lio started, gazing out to the living room as the early rays of sunshine peeked through the blinds of the window, casting the room in a comforting golden glow, “I never really allowed myself the idea of permanence, since really nowhere was safe. But seeing so many other Burnish running, never having a place to call home, made me realize just how much we were  _ missing _ . That’s why I decided to make a Burnish settlement, far from anybody that could be a danger to us. I wanted to give them the idea of home.” He exhaled, looking back at Galo, gazing intensely at the puzzled man, “Freeze Force captured us there, in the one place that we thought we could call home. We lost all meaning to it once they intruded in, they violated it with their presence and ruined it for us. I don’t want that to be something that you’ll come to regret if I stayed here.”

There, he said it, the dark murky thought that Lio buried deep in him, refusing to acknowledge after all these years. 

Home was something he once had if he thought hard about it, he can recall the vaguest memories of a small house, surrounded by grass and wildflowers. There was the feeling of belonging, of safety. He can recall soft delicate hands guiding the bright fire of his Promare around his palms. He remembers safety. 

The brightest memories of that time were of the field burning in harsh uncontrollable flames, the neon colors of his fire roaring to the sky, illuminating the collapsing house that had flames licking up to the roof. He doesn’t remember where the soft delicate hands went but he remembers running ever since. 

Lio had a home once, he ruined it by his own hands. He couldn't control his power at the time, it was too bright, too powerful to be contained in the small place he once called home. He couldn't allow that to happen again, didn’t want to rob anybody else of the idea of home. He’s already done it once and he can’t stomach it if he ever did it again.

“Lio,” The soft words from the otherwise boisterous man snapped Lio out of his brooding, calm blue eyes meeting his own, “This is nowhere near like that. You’re not like Freeze Force, you won’t be taking over my place, you’ll be living in it,  _ sharing  _ it with me. You’ve had it rough for the longest time when you shouldn’t have. I want to give you a place where you can feel safe and allow yourself to breathe. And if any problems come up, not saying I’m expecting it but, like, I’m a pretty messy roommate, we can just talk about it. That’s how friendship works, we communicate with each other.”

Lio bit his lip, pondering on what Galo said as he tapped his fingers against the counter. He glanced down to his hands, noting the opened blisters and crescent shaped marks from where he dug his nails into his skin. With his Promare all of his injuries were quickly healed, never leaving behind a sign of any injury he sustained. The same uninjured palms would hold the brightest flames, the same flames that scorched anything that would fall into its ravenous path. The flames that would burn skyscrapers to the ground but would protect his fellow people. He tried igniting the flames, looking inside him for the spark that would engulf his hand into flames. 

While he knew nothing would occur, the sharp stab of disappointment still cut through him as nothing appeared. He closed his fist with a shaky exhale. 

Can he allow himself this act of selfishness? He never had wanted a home, he only strive for that so that the other’s who suffered the same as him can be allowed to relax and have a sense of belonging. Maybe there was a small part of him that wanted to rectify his actions, the guilt of taking away a home from someone he doesn’t remember being absolved by him opening the settlement for others. He caused the destruction with his own hands so he sought to use the same hands to painstakingly build a haven for others. But never for himself. He never allowed himself the luxury for his fear of causing its destruction. 

Galo trusted in him. He looked at Lio and offered him not a home, but somewhere he can feel safe. 

He looked up and saw the hopeful caring look in his eyes before sighing, ignoring the warmth that he felt for the first time flickering inside him.

“I hope you realize that your coffee supply will constantly be low.” 

Galo’s confused face brightened instantly at Lio’s word, fist pumping as he said, “see! You can’t easily break up Galo de Lion.”

“I much preferred Lio de Galon.”

“My place, my rules. Rule number one is now to only refer to this place as Galo de Lion.”

“Oh? Well that makes me not want to stay here anymore.”

“Aw Lio don’t be like that, we were having our very first roommate bonding moment!” Galo’s face was near excitement, his figure bouncing slightly in his seat. Lio suppressed the slight smirk on his face as he picked up his mug.

“Don’t expect many of those to come.”

“I promise nothing.” Galo’s mirth shifted as he caught the time, he stretched before pushing off the counter, placing his empty dishes in the sink, “It’s been almost ten hours, the Captain can’t keep us from working anymore!”

“I guess we have to get a move on then.” Lio supplied as he drained the remainder of his coffee, his amusement shining in the pastel pink of his eyes.

“Team Galo de Lion is ready to get back in action!”

“Lio de Galon.”

“What was rule number one again?”

***

“Well look at that, Galo finally managed to follow an order.” Varys joked as Galo and Lio entered the expanded tent, moving past the volunteers that entered and exited constantly. People rushed in, bringing in information or supplies before rushing back out, not taking the time to talk to Galo’s team that were working inside the tent.

“I’m choosing to ignore that.” Galo happily remarked, energized and ready to start working. After eating and showering he felt much more alive and ready to go. He was dressed in his spare uniform pants with a dark blue shirt hugging his chest. After looking everywhere in his room he found his spare medical sleeve beneath a pile of forms that he definitely didn’t forget to sign. He had to finally cave that the one he was wearing last night was so damaged and dirty that he had no choice but to toss it.

“Good to see both of you looking less like death.” Captain Ignis remarked as he stood on the opposite side of the table. The captain paused and seemed to study Lio before eventually saying, “Interesting uniform Thymos.”

Lio scowled as he tugged the sleeves of the obnoxious red and yellow sweatshirt that Galo threw at him before they rushed out the door. It completely dwarfed him, the sleeves were too long for his arms as the sweatshirt fell to the middle of his thighs. That, combined with his wrinkled and dusty pants from the day before and his heavily buckled boots probably made him an odd sight to see. Lio ignored the smothered snickering coming from the team as he pulled the sleeves up again.

“I’m burning this as soon as I can.”

“Alright, one, I think you did enough burning to last a lifetime. Two, that's my favorite sweatshirt dude don’t destroy it!

“I’ll be doing the world a favor if I did.”

“Not cool my man.” Galo chided.

Lio ignored Galo’s pout as he directed his attention back to the captain. “Update me on the Burnish.” The captain's eyebrow raised slightly at Lio’s commanding tone, letting it pass as he handed a datapad to Lio. 

“They’ve been placed in two different locations, but they’re close to one another so that it shouldn’t be an issue. One is an emergency shelter that’s been converted to house about three thousand, but there’s barely a sense of order even with most of our volunteers stationed there. The other is a residential building owned by the city, it was previously vacated and was planned to be torn down, but with the amount of families we have it’s been decided as a shelter for now.” 

Lio felt uneasy as he looked through the datapad, uncomfortable with how willing Promepolis was letting the Burnish to reside in.

“That seems generous of them to allow.” Lio stated carefully, his face emotionless as he met the stare of the Captain.

The Captain merely crossed his arms at Lio’s controlled expression, “I’ll be honest, I was surprised at that also. But it looks like this is a sort of way for them to appear less guilty to the people, probably trying to save face after Kray’s plan. Controversy seems to spark sympathy.”

  
“The building is also a piece of shit so I don’t think they were really losing anything.” Came Guiera’s voice from behind Lio. He quickly whirled around and felt guilt crash into him as the man sidled next to him, pointing at the datapad without meeting Lio’s eyes. The man appeared in better shape from when he last saw him, color returned to his face as he stood tall, no longer in danger of crumbling due to exhaustion. But his joy at seeing his friend in better shape was dashed as Guiera continued to ignore Lio.

“Ventilation is shit, the basement is infested with roaches, maintenance is going to be a bitch to handle and the street isn’t exactly that welcoming to us. So it’s just like old times.” Guiera finished as he leaned back, placing his hands in his pockets as he finally reached Lio’s stare. 

“Guier-” Lio started before he was grabbed by his wrist and pulled towards the exit by Guiera, who quickly called over his shoulders, “Burnish meeting! No non-burnish allowed!”

Before he could hear Galo and the team’s responses he was pulled out of the tent and into the open area, rubble still surrounding them with clear paths winding through the disaster. He could see some volunteers moving rubble to the side, while others were entering and exiting the ship, most likely using the resources that Kray held in the cargo to help with the rescue aid. Guiera pulled him a ways away before finally stopping and letting go of Lio’s wrist. 

“So first of all me and Meis don’t need an apology, we’re not angry at you.” Lio hunched down a bit, holding the datapad tightly in front of his chest. He was still trying to apologize before Gueira cut him off.

  
“Second of all Meis and other Burnish are handling head counts,” Lio snapped up at that, his concern on the other Burnish taking up the forefront of his mind, “We’ve got two teams in both locations organizing everything from supplying rations to reconnecting families. There’s a group of representatives from the government that arrived about three hours ago hounding us about legal shit that I don’t even understand. The total death count is 849 from the last update, and I don’t think they’re done yet.” Guiera finished with a grimace. 

Lio felt the air knocked out of him as dread pooled in his gut. 849 Burnish. His thoughts trailed off, how many were children? How many family members would not be reunited? He felt sick as he thought of all 849 Burnish last moments filled with pain and absolute misery as their bodies fragmented before finally being scattered apart. The freezing in his body that he managed to ignore intensified. He gripped the datapad tightly, the screen cracking slightly at Lio’s hands. 

“And finally,” Gueira continued as Lio looked up to the older man, tensing as Gueira stepped forward, grabbed Lio by the shoulders, and pulled him to a crushing hug. His eyes slightly widening at the gesture. 

Guiera continued as he ignored the tense way Lio held himself, “Boss, I know how hard this is. We’ve never been so scrambled and confused before, there’s a lot of pain and I don’t think it’ll stop. But you can’t just do that Lio. You can’t lock yourself away.” Guiera pulled back, his hands still resting on Lio’s shoulders as he calmly spoke, “We’re going to face the deepest shit we’ve ever seen, and I need you to know that you can rely on us. We’ve been through some shit together, so you need to know that if you break, me and Meis will be there to pull you back together. But you need to let us.”

There was a stone lodged in Lio’s throat, words unable to surface as he gaped at one of his generals. Fuck what was he kidding, his  _ friend, _ as the older man requested to allow himself to be there for when Lio finally crashes. He wants to be there for the sake of putting him back together. During the entire time he has known both older men, his thoughts always ended up the same. 

That this is temporary. 

He always thought that something would happen that would cause Lio to move on, to only briefly remember their presence like he’s done to so many in the past. But here he was, rooting Lio into place, the pleading in his eyes begging for Lio to open up, to let them have the chance to be part of Lio’s life.  _ You’ve protected us, now let us protect you.  _

“.. I can’t promise that.” Lio eventually mustered out, ignoring the angry looked that flashed across Guiera’s face before continuing, “I can’t promise that I’ll keep trying to hide my problems from both of you, or that I’ll stop pushing both of you away, or for when I fall apart I’ll let both of you to be there.” He inhaled, his lungs filling with the warm air outside and thawing the block of ice in his center, “But I can promise that I’ll try. Not only for my sake, but to show the both of you that I trust you. That’s all I can offer.”

Guiera listened attentively, before letting out a sigh as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. Lio felt dread pool in his gut at the action before Guiera looked up and smiled, a tint of sadness clinging to his eyes but overall feeling relief.

“That’s the second best offer you’ve given us.” 

Lio let out a small huff of relieved laughter, “What was the first?”

“Asking us to make you the boss of Mad Burnish.” This time it was Lio who initiated the hug, wrapping his arms tightly around the other man as he basked in his warmth. He briefly thought that in the past 24 hours this has been the most he has ever talked about his feelings and the most he’s even been hugged. He finds that he slightly doesn’t mind it.

As they separated Guiera spoke, his eyes slightly wet as he blinked it away, “So now that you’re feeling better I can finally say this. Why the fuck do you look like a fire cone?”

“I can and will demote you.”

“Lio please allow me the pleasure of burning the eyesore.”

“Already threatened to do that, Galo says it's apparently his favorite.”

Guiera paused at that, his brow raising slightly, “That idiot that you piloted with? How'd You end up with it?”

“I don’t really have a spare shirt Gueira, this is what Galo gave me when we left his place this morning.”

A puzzled look appeared on Guiera’s face, but before he could voice his thoughts they were interrupted by a shout of Lio’s name. Both turned to the source of the noise and saw Galo jogging up to them. 

Lio raised his brow at Galo, “You are aware that we said this is a Burnish meeting?”

“Oh yeah, I heard, but I figured once all the hugging was done the meeting was over.”

“How long were you following us Galo?”

“If I said for a little bit would you believe me?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Well you have your answer.”

Lio rolled his eyes, crossing his arms as he stared at the sheepish man in front of him. He could feel Guiera’s stare from behind him but waved it away.

“What did you need Galo?”

“Oh! The captain’s having us start to clear some of the debris on the roads and in some city blocks, so I’ll be busy around here. You’ll be dealing with the Burnish?”

Lio nodded, “It appears that your government isn’t exactly pleased to have displaced Burnished staying in the city, so I’ll be dealing with them.”

“And by dealing with them do you mean talking or…”

“Galo I’m perfectly capable of peaceful communication.”

“So does that mean you’re not going to yell at their faces and threaten to punch them?”

“... Guiera and Meis are perfectly capable of making sure that it ends up with peaceful communication.”

“Thought so.”

Guiera interrupted then, “As much as I enjoy whatever.. this is, we should be heading out Lio, I left Meis with those officials and he’ll kill me if he has to deal with them any more than he has too.”

Lio inclined his head, acknowledging Gueira as he glanced back at Galo, “We’ll be taking our leave then.”

“Gotcha dude, once you’re done for the day stop by the base and we’ll head back to my place.”

Lio nodded towards Galo before turning and walking with Guiera towards the emergency shelter. After walking for a while Lio noticed Guiera side eyeing him, curiosity written clearly on his face.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Just kinda odd to see you like that.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. I guess pretty open if I have to say?”

“What do you mean?”

Guiera shrugged, absentmindedly scratching behind his ear as he pondered the question, “Like, you’re always pretty serious about everything and always on edge. But right now was the first time I’ve ever seen you relaxed.”

Lio blinked, surprised at the statement as he thought about Guiera’s observation. He was never one for idle chatter, let alone anything that wasn’t Mad Burnish related matters. If he thought about it, he can’t really recall a time where he took the time to just chat with someone freely. 

Well that was a bit depressing.

“I’m glad that you have someone like that.” Guiera spoke, dragging Lio away from his thoughts as he inquisitively glanced at the older man.

“Like what?”

“Someone that you’re comfortable with.”

“I’m plenty comfortable with you and Meis.”

“I know you are, but you’ve barely met the dude and you guys are already super buddy buddy, when was the last time you were like that to anyone?”

Lio’s rebuttal died at that, he fiddled with the ends of sleeves as his brows slightly furrowed. 

“Huh”

“You also willingly crashed at his place last night.”

“In my defense I was manhandled to stay there.”

“But you’re also going back tonight?”

“The only reason is because he’s supplying me with coffee.”

“Fuck dude seriously? Can I also be his roommate?” 

“Three’s a crowd Guiera.” Lio amusedly watched as Guiera let out a load groan as they approached the shelter. Their conversation ended as they walked in to see Meis surrounded by Promepolis officials, his posture rigid as he restrained himself from attacking one male official that was pointing an accusing finger right at Meis face. Guiera growled at the sight and made a move forward, intending to show the Promepolis man exactly what he thought of him before Lio’s arm shot out and stopped him. He looked down at Lio and smirked at the fiery anger directed towards the officials.

“I’ll deal with them.” Lio spoke in a menacing tone, his eyes tracking each official with a predatory glance as they continued to barrage Meis with questions. 

‘Oh those people are so fucked,’ Guiera thought. 

“Need anything from us Boss?”

“Take care of matters here and send Meis to the other location. I’ll come and help after finishing with these Promepolians.”

“Go easy with them?”

“Never.”

Guiera cackled as Lio strode forward, his chin held high as he folded the end’s of the sleeves once again. Meis noticed the man and a look of pure glee swept across his face as he saw the murderous expression on Lio.

“Meis thank you for handling them,” Lio called out, the officials stopping their barrage of questions as they turned and glanced at him. Several of them blanched once they realized who he was and how he stared down at them with the promise of pain, “Return to your post Meis. I’ll take over from here.”

“You got it Boss!” Smirked Meis as he walked away, leaving the officials alone in the lobby with murderous looking Burnish.

“Now,” Lio spoke with a dangerous tone as the officials withered under the oppressing glare of the smaller man, “I believe we have matters to discuss.”

***

The following 2 weeks were filled with Lio testing his utmost patience with the Promepolis government. Every time someone spoke with either snide or uncaring remarks to the Burnish, Lio fantasized about grabbing their heads and slamming it down to the splintered desk that made up his office space. 

His office was where almost all of the meetings between him and the officials were held. A semi spacious room filled with various items that they couldn’t find space for, from boxes filled with documents identifying each displaced Burnished to ones that held donated items such as clothing or hygiene materials that Galo and his team delivered. Lio sat on the only chair of the room behind his desk, forcing the officials to stand for hours as they barraged him with their idiocy that ranged from day to day.

Some days Lio was able to end the meetings with some issues handled. He was able to argue on receiving aid programs such as emergency food, healthcare access, and funds.

Those were the good days. The bad days on the other hand left Lio nearly attacking them.

For instance one day he would argue for the protection of the Burnish. They would refute that they have no legal obligation to protect them as they were not citizens of the city. He would then remark many of the Burnish were once citizens who were forced to leave the city as either their powers would awaken or they were discovered. Then he would point out that they could grant temporary residency to the other Burnish, allowing them asylum. They would then argue back on why they would consider to do so. 

“Because it was your damn governor and government that allowed the torture and death of my people in your city!” Lio would snap as his fist would bang the table, causing the opposition to jump in fear as they faced the angered Mad Burnish leader. Some would cower at him while others continued to argue in his face. 

Days like those ended with the officials forced to bring the issue to the new board members, leaving them with the decision on the matter as Lio locked himself in his office to scream his frustrations out as the ice inside of him seemed to burn in his veins. The ache in his heart weighed heavily as he thought of the Burnish, powerless and unprotected, their livelihood left to the hands of Lio and the idiots he had to deal with.

His days always ended with him walking to Burning Rescue’s base, sometimes to help with the cleanup efforts or other times where he would wait for Galo so they could head back to the apartment together. Somehow, on the bad days where Lio thinks he has locked his frustrations away to leave a semblance of calm to him, Galo would notice him, and he would stop what he was doing to remark “rough day?”

Lio has no idea how Galo was able to figure out his bad mood. He thought he was able to control his expression to show no sign of whatever was bothering him, but Galo seems to notice every damn time.

Instead of waving away the concern or ignoring the comment, Lio would meet Galo’s concerned blue eyes and growl out, “I’m going to murder someone.”

Galo would nod, standing up and guiding Lio out to the streets, “yeup alright instead of murder how about food?” The two walked to Galo’s apartment, where Lio fueled his caffeine addiction as Galo cooked late night dinners. He would fill the air with inane chatter, effectively taking Lio’s mind off the day he had and allowing his mind to focus on the present as he gazed at his roommate cooking in the kitchen. 

Living with Galo was… odd to say the least.

Galo was always  _ loud. _ He would hum to unknown tunes. Loudly clatter around the apartment, slamming cabinets and doors behind him. He would tap his fingers against any surface as he focused on paperwork that the Captain forced him to take home. Galo also felt the need to fill in any silence with whatever came to mind. He would talk about shows that he was watching, what they should have for dinner tomorrow, how Lucia’s modifications on his Matoi Gear were going, how Ms. Kara would complain to him about the weather outside as though it was Galo’s fault. He would attempt to get Lio to partake in the conversations, sometimes successful and other times not. He never once looked put out when all Lio had to give him were noncommittal grunts or one word answers, always continuing on with his chatter.

But the odd thing about it was that Lio found he didn’t really mind any of this.

There was something tranquil about Galo's loud presence. Lio’s life was faced with constant moving around, silence being his only company as he stayed away from Freeze Force’s sight. If he was with a group any conversations held were always hushed and spoken in few words, the fear of being found out weighing heavily on them. Noises were only made when it came to battles, there would be the roaring of their fires and the loud gunshots from Freeze Force. Battle cries tearing through their throats as the engines on their motorcycles roared to life as they clashed against their enemies, drowning out the world around them. His life was either quiet for the sake of survival or roared with noise as he fought with all his might.

But with Galo, the noise that came from him was a reminder that, for the moment, there was a sense of safety. Galo proved not only to be a capable fighter but someone who’s loyalty to their allies never wavered. Lio had the chance to talk without worrying about controlling his volume, speaking in quiet tones during the night or yelling across the apartment at a question Galo asked. 

But even with Galo’s constant babbling, Lio noticed his silence on certain issues.

During his fourth night at Galo’s apartment, Lio entered Galo’s room for the first time. Galo left, saying something about heading out to pick up some food, and Lio’s curiosity (and boredom) got the better of him.

It wasn’t that Galo necessarily barred Lio from entering his room, he just never went in for the sake of respecting Galo’s privacy. 

Which he completely disregarded as he peeked into the other man’s room, the slightest hint of guilt forgotten as he entered and gazed at Galo’s bedroom. He was amused to see several posters hanging on Galo’s walls depicting ancient Japanese firefighters that Galo loved to rant about. He peered at the small amount of photographs on the walls, showing Galo with the Burning Rescue team on different occasions. Some showed the entire team posing in front of the station as they stood confident in their uniforms, while others showed them in more social situations. Lio snorted at one where it appeared that Galo and Varys were having a pizza eating contest while the team cheered at them in the background. Galo was captured in all his glory with his mouth wide opened, eating five pizza slices stacked on top of one another.

As Lio walked around the queen size bed to view the photographs on the other wall, he stumbled on a shoe box half hidden under the bed. Lio frowned as he heard the sound of glass rustling inside when it jostled. He hesitated before bending down and pulling out the box from beneath the bed, opening the top as he peered into its contents.

He startled at Kray Foresight’s face smiling at him through the shattered glass of its picture frame. He took out the picture, minding the broken glass that fell from the front as he took a closer look. He blinked in surprise as he saw Galo in the picture as well, his face younger looking as he wore a graduation cap and held a diploma in his hands. Both were standing besides one another in a courtyard filled with other’s, some with the same graduation attire while others in evening clothes. He felt something lodge itself in his throat as he gazed at the two before looking back into the box. Lio felt his teeth clench together as he looked at the bottom of the box, looking at the crinkled paper hidden under the broken glass.

It was the front page of a newspaper, bolded words scrawled across the top reading  **“Brave Soul Saves Young Child’s Life in Tragic Fire.”** There in all its colored glory was a young looking Kray, his hair slicked back as he stood tall in front of a crowd, shaking hands with the Governor from back then. And besides Kray, looking up at him with awe and reverence was Galo, appearing no older than ten as he clung to the lapels of Kray’s suit.

As he picked up and scanned through the text he felt horror grow inside of him as he read,  _ “Galo Thymos (age ten) was the only survivor of the fire that decimated the apartment complex. Forty six individuals perished in the fire, including the parents of the young child. Galo Thymos now resides in Promepolis Children’s Home where he receives frequent visits from his saviour, Kray Foresight, who now works as the newest intern for the Governor.” _

He threw the article down and pushed the box back under the bed with force, disgust rising like acid in his throat.

Galo spent his entire life worshiping Kray, Galo had felt genuine  _ love  _ for the man. In the absence of his parents and loss of his home he clung to the man that he thought saved him from the fire, and he thought to repay the man by giving him his unwavering loyalty and care.

How is Galo living with this? Knowing that everything he set out to do was for the approval of a man who detested him since the beginning? How the man he thought carried him from the flames that took his parents was actually the one that started it? And how easily the man used the excuse of ‘saving’ Galo to better his reputation as the brave hero who continued to care for the young boy he ‘saved’ from a fiery death.

He stared at the box, completely lost on what to do before he stood up and left the room, slamming the door shut as he sat on the couch. He attempted to occupy himself, turning on the television and flicking through every channel. The noises from each channel became static in his mind before he snarled and turned it off. He threw the control to the side as he picked up a book, reading for a while before slamming the book shut as he realized he wasn’t absorbing anything. Eventually he settled back and gazed at the ceiling.

Did he throw the pictures in the box in a fit of rage? Was he hiding any mention of Kray to avoid the painful truth? How was he coping?

Since the battle, once Kray was pulled from the ground where Galo left him and put in the back of a police van, there wasn’t a mention of the man between the two of them. Lio was satisfied to never broach any topic related to Kray after the man’s arrest, slight satisfaction circling in his gut as he watched the man get handcuffed and taken away. Lio didn’t understand the relationship between Galo and Kray at the time, so he never questioned what occurred on the ship. He just accepted that whatever was between them ended with their fight. Now he can see that their relationship towards one another was deeper than he thought, and should have affected the man more deeply.

And yet when Galo arrived later in the night with a shopping bag filled with takeout, Lio watched the man with a critical eye. Galo looked no different than normal, it appeared that there were no thoughts plaguing his mind about Kray as he ate with fervor. He looked carefree and happy, not at all bothered with Kray’s revelation just last week. At least from what Lio has seen.

Galo noticed Lio’s stare and he swallowed the heaping amounts of noodles in his mouth. “What’s wrong? Is there something on my face?” His head was tilted sideways as he brought a hand to brush off the nonexistent dirt from his cheek. Lio carefully considered the man in front of him before eventually looking back down to his food, “Nothing, just thinking. Your face was in the way.”

Galo laughed at the statement and Lio swallowed the pit in his throat, leaving the matter unanswered as he continued to wonder if Galo had accepted what happened with Kray and moved on.

From the box hidden underneath the bed and not thrown away, Lio guessed that he was wrong.

Then there were the nightmares. 

Lio would have never noticed it at all if it wasn't his tendency to be a light sleeper. After a couple of days of getting used to the various noises coming from the other apartments that he could hear from the paper thin walls, Lio woke up to the sound of choked breathing. He sat up quickly, the last dredges of sleep wiped away once he located the source of the noise coming from Galo’s room. Before he could think about it he leapt up from his spot and sprinted to the room, throwing open the door and quickly assessing any potential threats.

The light from the street outside allowed Lio to quickly scan the room, noting nothing out of the ordinary before falling to the figure on the bed. Galo was curled in on his side, his expression pinched with sweat beading across his face as gasping breaths tore through him. 

Before Lio could make a move Galo woke up, lurching up from his spot, his hand clutching his chest as his breath came out in a loud gasp. His gaze was panicked as the nightmare ebbed away from his mind before looking up and catching Lio’s eyes. 

“Lio?” Galo’s voice was strangled, and Lio felt a flash of guilt go through him as he intruded in what was obviously a vulnerable moment for the man.

“..I heard some noises and wanted to check on you.” Lio finally managed to utter out, watching as Galo held back a grimace and forced out a smile that looked out of place in his state.

“I’m fine Lio. Sorry for waking you up, go back to bed.” 

Lio bit his lip, uncertain on whether or not to broach the topic, but at Galo’s pleading gaze he eventually nodded. 

“Alright.. Goodnight Galo.” 

The look of relief on Galo’s face was obvious, but he didn’t comment on it, “Goodnight Lio.”

As Lio closed the door behind him, he caught a glimpse of Galo’s hunched figure curling in on himself, and he forced himself to swallow the concern that was rising up. He walked back to the couch and laid there for a while, his breathing silent as he strained his ears to catch any noises coming from Galo’s room.

It was silent the entire night.

When he woke up in the morning it was to the sight of Galo, whistling merrily as he flipped pancakes on the stove and brewing coffee. Galo looked towards Lio and smiled brightly.

“Morning Lio! I’m trying out those cinnamon pancake recipe that Ms. Kara gave me if you wanted to try some!” 

Lio looked at Galo, noting the tense shoulders and the hints of dark circles around his eyes, and he wondered if he was overstepping a boundary if he tried to inquire what Galo was dreaming that night..

But seeing the usually boastful and bravado filled man in a rare moment of vulnerability was something he couldn’t approach, he had no right to bother Galo with questions he obviously didn’t want to answer. 

Eventually Lio got up from the couch and stretched as he made his way to the steaming mug on the counter where he usually sat. He nonchalantly spoke as he picked up his mug, “sure, but I’m not going to even ask about the amount of sugar you poured into the batter.” He took a sip and over the rim of his coffee cup he watched as the tension left Galo’s shoulders, a soft of relieved exhale escaping him as he turned back to the stove, filling the silence with chatter about the plans for today. He reassured himself that whatever happened last night was probably nothing. He shouldn’t worry about it.

But that still didn’t stop Lio from standing outside Galo’s door later that night, hearing the same choked breathing coming from the sleeping man. Lio resisted the urge to wake Galo as he leaned against the wall, closing his eyes as he tried to ignore the rasping coming from the closed room before heading back to bed.

Lio would hear Galo having his nightmare every night until he no longer woke up from the noise, now used to the choking breaths from Galo.

As Lio watched Galo cook in the morning he reassured himself that if there was something that was bothering Galo, he would talk to Lio when he was ready to.

As both of them continued to live in their ignorance, Lio pretended to ignore the stress that sometimes flashed across Galo’s eyes or the way he would stare off before shaking his head, ridding himself of whatever thoughts plaguing him. The concern continued to rise in him as days passed by, reassuring himself that Galo will be fine. 

Lio hopes he doesn’t regret not asking.

***

Lio was a realist, he knew how cruel and horrible life can be, but he can also see the rare moments of warmth that filled him with a semblance of hope for the future. And these past few weeks, he was allowed more of these moments than he ever had before. He had a taste of normalcy, the beginnings of a peaceful future were formed in Galo’s company while he cared for the Burnish.

But that never stopped him from holding his breath, waiting for the moment that would rip these moments away from him in a flash.

He was the leader of Mad Burnish, known terrorist to the non-Burnish of Promepolis. He knew that his rampage throughout the city wouldn’t go unpunished. As the days continued to pass by, he was always on edge, aware that this was temporary. Everything in his life was always temporary.

He shouldn’t have gotten comfortable with this brief freedom.

Three weeks after the battle, Lio walked with Aina late in the day as the woman surveyed the ruined debris filled street, listening to her chatter about the cleanup plans for this area and what tools they would need and which areas needed to be cleared first.

“You do realize I’m not part of Burning Rescue right?” Lio asked as he helped her climb over a sizable chunk that once was part of a building, his brow raised as the woman laughed.

“And yet you came with me when the Captain ordered it.”

“Please. I’m not doing this to appease your Captain, I would rather be doing something useful than waiting for Galo to finish his shift.”

“Y’know that’s sorta your fault since he leaves with you whenever you get here. The Captain has been very lenient with him not finishing his tasks.”

“I never asked Galo to leave once I finished with my duties, I would be glad to offer my assistance.”

“You didn’t have to ask, Galo just wanted to. Besides you already have too much on your hands with Burnish stuff, we don’t want to add to that pile.”

Lio looked away from the ruined storefront and towards Aina as they neared the end of the street where the roads were clear, “I had a hand with this destruction, I should be doing more to help with the wreckage.”

Aina didn’t look up from the datapad in her hands, typing in the report of the area’s conditions as she spoke, “All of this wasn’t just your fault, Kray had a hand in it also, if anything more people are putting the blame on him for mess on the city.”

“So you’re not angry that I went on a rampage?”

“Oh no, I’m pissed at you about that, do you know how much work we had to deal with that night? God it was a nightmare.” Aina finally looked up from the pad, smirking at the slight grimace etched across Lio’s face. She swung the pad behind her and balanced on the heels of her feet as she continued, “but I can’t hold you against your reason behind it. You were angry, the idea of your people being in danger had you lose your composure. You were ready to burn yourself out for the sake of your people.” Lio was startled at the sympathetic gaze that she sent his way, even more so by her words. 

He was still uneasy around Galo’s team whenever he came to the base, years of fighting against people similar to them had him raising his defenses. He wanted to be prepared for the moment they would eventually turn on him and the Burnish. To his surprise though, he was greeted with warmth from the team. They would go at lengths to include him in conversations when he visited, they’d ask how he’s been, how Burnish matters are going on, has there been any trouble that he needs help with. He wasn’t prepared for the concern they showed and he was often left stumped on what to say. 

So at that he only responded by hiding behind a curtain of hair and looking down the street, watching cars pass by their empty road, “that still does not excuse the destruction that I caused.” 

He caught two white vehicles slowing down at the end of the road, before pausing, facing their direction. He narrowed his eyes at them.

“Well yeah I guess? But seriously dude, Kray is largely at fault also. Also can’t really blame you for wanting to get at that asshole.”

“Hm yeah.” He said idly, the cars once again moving towards them.

Ah, well, it took them longer than he thought.

“I’m just saying Lio, you’re only human, sometimes mistakes hap- what are you looking at?” Aina said as she glanced where he was staring just as the cars were a few feet from them. Bright blue and red lights began to flash in front of them as Lio gently pushed Aina behind him, raising his hands by his side as he watched four police officers exit the vehicles.

“Wait- Lio?”

“Aina,” he spoke calmly as he walked forward, his head held high as he watched one officer take out a pair of handcuffs (huh, how foolish of him, he was expecting the Burnish cuffs), “I need you to go back and inform Guiera and Meis. Tell them they’re in charge of the Burnish matters from now on.”

“Lio what are you talking about?” came Aina’s hurry reply as she rushed forward, only to be held back by one police officer as he held out his wrist. The police officer holding the cuffs, an older blonde haired man, slightly raised his eyebrows at his compliance before cuffing him. He spoke in a low baritone voice, “Lio Fotia, you are under arrest for terrorist activity, destruction of property and the endangerment of Promepolis citizens lives.”

“I was the one who organized all the attacks, anybody who participated in the attacks I forced them to do so. Don’t take any other Burnish, I ordered them.” Lio quickly declared out, ignoring Aina’s protest and struggle as he was led to the police vehicle.

“That’s for the commissioner to decide, now shut up and get in the damn car.” Lio looked back at Aina, meeting her wide eyed stare before inclining his head at her, “It will be fine Aina, don’t worry.” As he was about to enter the vehicle he quickly whipped around, struggling against the hands attempting to push him into the car.

“Also don’t let Galo do anything stupid!” He called out as he gave in to their force, falling into the backseat of the car as the door slammed shut. He struggled to bring himself up as the police started the car and began to peel out of the road. He looked out the back window and saw a brief glimpse of Aina standing by herself in the street, calling out to him. He didn’t hear what she was saying as they turned the corner and she disappeared from sight. 

He sighed and leaned back, staring at the roof of the car as he reassured himself that he did as much as he could for the Burnish, Guiera and Meis would handle the rest. He ignored the tight ball of dread festering inside him, spreading through him like the ice in his veins. 

He was fine with this. As long as he can take all the blame for the Burnish he can spend the rest of his life in prison at peace with his choices.

But still, there was the slightest ache inside of him that would miss the peace that he had for the past three weeks.

He shouldn’t have allowed himself to be content, life never worked that way for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i read somewhere that Galo has the same nightmare about the fire every night and im a goddamn sucker for angst so im fucking taking liberty with it. also it took this fic around 17000 words to finally get to the plot and i am suffering but am finally excited to get along with the story
> 
> ALSO THANK YOU FOR THE NICE COMMENTS YALL BE SO NICE (ﾉŎꇴŎ)ﾉ*✲ﾟ*｡

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is planned for thirteen chapters but honestly who knows what I'll do. Also ratings will definitely change but that wont be until way later.
> 
> Also like I said before its been a while since I wrote any fics so please send me any criticism y'all want. Fuckin' drag me cause after my third edit I was done™.


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